WORLD CLASS ANTIQUES magazine WORLDCLASSANTIQUES.COM VOLUME 1 | NUMBER 1 | AUGUST 2015 CONTENTS WISH YOU WERE HERE 3 Postcards over the last two centuries NEED A PICK ME UP? HAVE A SODA POP! 5 The history of soda pop in North America MARKETPLACE PICKS 8 Staff picks of current finds available on our website HOW TO GET TOP BIDS FOR YOUR ANTIQUE AUCTION 9 Tips for getting top dollar for your items SETTING RECORDS ON THE AUCTION BLOCK 10 Picasso, Ruhlmann and Hermès set new highs RECOGNIZING HAND CARVED FURNITURE What to look for and how to tell the difference 11 between hand carving and machine carving TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME 13 Taking “The National Pastime” to the boards WHERE TO OPEN YOUR ANTIQUE SHOP – AND WHAT TO SELL 15 What people are interested in and where to find them TRIP PLANNER FOR ANTIQUES 17 Featured trip: Four stops on your way to Niagara-on-the-Lake 1 WORLD CLASS ANTIQUES.COM MAGAZINE Luli the tin toy and other great finds 8 Hermès Birkin bag brings in the bucks 10 Baseball 13 board games VOLUME 1 | NUMBER 1 | AUGUST 2015 2 WISH YOU WERE HERE BY JIM TRAUTMAN re you a deltiologist? Not sure. Probably depiction of the poor and needy requiring Postcards were mailed to friends or family, like millions of others you sent or have food and clothing.” or in many instance purchased and kept for A saved some postcards over the years. one’s own scrapbook. A record of summer Deltiology is someone who collects postcards. There may have been controversy over vacations, family outings and special events. The first postcard appeared as a Christmas the message on the postcard, but others Memories stored away. Today those cards card in 1843. The same year that Charles recognized that postcards could be printed are tiny patches rubbed clear on the foggy Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and the story of and marketed with other scenes on the window of the past, fleeting glimpses of Ebenezer Scrooge was published. Sir Henry postcard. Photos could be employed to ordinary life, culture, the kind of everyday Cole, the director of London’s Victoria and decorate the front of the card. history not available in official documents. Albert Museum has been recognized as one Postcards were popular from the late of the greatest entrepreneurs in the history The new photographic technology was 1880’s to the 1960’s due to the low cost of of England. He was an inventor, and artist, embraced by towns, cities, even small villages, postage. Originally it was a penny hence the devised the Penny Post and planned the all eager to represent their finest public penny postcard. Even when normal postage Great Exhibition of 1851. buildings, streetscapes and community rates increased postcards remained at an festivities in the hopes of attracting tourists, affordable rate due to the simple fact each In November 1843, he looked at his mailing new residents and businesses. Sports teams, one is complete on two sides. No extra cost list and realized it had grown to several bands, theatre troupes and businesses due to the extra weight of writing paper. hundred people to whom he would have to jumped on the postcard bandwagon. send a letter. The list included friends, and Other photographic postcards popular businesses associates. No other media has offered such a wide with collectors feature adult and children at panoramic of life through the past 160 years work and play, baseball stadiums, football A photo pack of the sites of Los Angeles. as postcards. The photographic postcards stadiums, hockey arenas, politicians, famous Postage 1 and 1/2 cents.A photo pack of the were inexpensive to market and proved very people, amusement parks, county fairs, sites of Los Angeles. Postage 1 and 1/2 cents. profitable. Almost every small town drug world’s fairs or exhibitions, fires, ships, store commissioned a local photographer to aircraft, major holidays, construction projects This was an impossible task, so he take pictures of the main streets, post office, such as the Empire State Building, Eiffel Tower, commissioned the famous artist John Callcott government buildings, churches, parks and Panama Canal. The list is endless and there is Horsley to design a postcard with a simple special events including special patriotic ones. an affordable price for every collector. Most greeting that he could sign and send that postcards only sell for a few dollars. The would convey the message of the Christmas A 1900 postcard features the famous most valuable cards that sell for hundreds season. Horsley produced a three-panel, Orangeman’s Parade in various Canadian are photos of towns now gone or important hand coloured lithographed card. The simple cities. Another a 1900 Dominion Day Parade events. The postcard that features a captured postcard measured 3”x5” and depicted a with marching band followed by long rows of German U-Boat from World War I docked in scene straight out of “A Christmas Carol”. children dressed in their white Sunday best. Toronto Harbour on its way to destruction on The back of the card indicates it was sold at W. the Great Lakes sells in the $150 range. A rare The centre panel featured a three generation, Erskine Druggist, Orangeville, Ontario. one time event. middle class family seated around a table eating and drinking. The left panel depicted The sales of postcards increased as salesman By the late 1800’s many postcards became feeding the hungry during the Christmas would visit each town. Many images were for more colourful thanks to the new process season and the right panel, providing clothing a specific city or town while other postcards of chromolithography. It was a revolutionary to the needy. The greeting in the centre was were generic scenes and the name of the printing style. Rather than being limited to one “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.” town was added to suit. One such generic colour, it allowed for successive applications card is of a young couple sitting at a piano of colour. The images on postcards began The first Christmas card was not warmly kissing and the caption states, “I’m Taking to reflect the new multi coloured style. The received by everyone, according to Mary Piano Lessons” and the name of the town was J.S. Campbell and Sons of Toronto and G.W. Catchpole, art archivist in the art and filled in. A card that appeared after World War Clarke of Montreal were two major producers photography section of the Library and II was of a grocery store and indicated it was of postcards. Other Canadian companies Archives of Canada. “The card ruffled feathers the new “self-serve” store filled with shopping were Warwick Brothers and Rutter, The McCoy in Victorian society with its depiction of carts to make it easier to pile up the great Printing Company, The W.G. MacFarlane a family celebration that included a child savings available. Company. The largest worldwide producer drinking wine. Others were outraged at the of postcards was the Raphael Tuck and Sons 3 WORLD CLASS ANTIQUES.COM MAGAZINE A photo pack of the sites of Los Angeles. Postage 1 and 1/2 cents. Company. Raphael Tuck and his wife founded the company in London, England in the 1866. In the United States it was the Stecher Lithograph Company of Rochester, New York. The North American companies cornered the postcard market during World War I due to the simple fact that German postcard companies were prevented from the major markets due to the war embargo. When World War I ended the major competitors that had been on the losing side never recovered to regain their market share. 1930’s postcard of The Lake In The Clouds – Banff National Park. Sadly, the postcard according to a recent article is on a severe decline. Due to the internet and the high cost of postage sales and the mailing of postcards has reached a new low. The US Postal Service estimated that about 1 billion postcards were sent in 2013. That is a decline of 4.4 million from 2012. Nancy Rosen, President of the Ephemera Society of America attributes the decline to several factors. “Social media definitely decreases the number of paper missives being sent. Penmanship skills have diminished. Even sending postcards from travel locales is getting to be a challenge as they don’t seem readily available. Postcards are an artifact of the past, when they were a primary vehicle for communications among friends, lovers and relatives.” A 1914 postcard of the Royal Medical Corps in battle. With the decline of sending postcards it becomes even more interesting to the collector to attend shows, yard sales, flea markets, second hand stores and even check stores that are closing. Not as many are being sent, but in the past 160 years the supply and variety for collectors is endless. Jim Trautman writes on antiques and collectibles for World Class Antiques, The Wayback Times, Antique Week and other publications. He has been featured on CBC tv shows on the history of sports cards, games and other collectibles. Working on a new book on the history of the early Xplanes and the test pilots that flew them. 1930’s view of Akron, Ohio Airport with airship. VOLUME 1 | NUMBER 1 | AUGUST 2015 4 NEED A PICK ME UP? BY JIM TRAUTMAN he history of soda pop is a fascinating The local area is home to the famous Canada chapter in the cultural history of North Dry Ginger Ale Company, which was founded T America. Today, it is sold in grocery stores, by John J.